Mr. Tim Cullinan:

I will address Deputy Fitzmaurice's points first. He said that once one plants, the plan should follow through. That is exactly what we are saying. If forestry is planted, obviously the next process is that a road needs to go in for the wood to be taken out. What follows on from that is the thinning process. We are all on the same page here. Why a licence has to be acquired for that, particularly in a farmer's situation, is beyond me. One of the key asks we have today is for that to be freed up, which would help get timber flowing again and slow down or do away with the current requirement to import timber, which I highlighted already. It is an absolute scandal that we have all this timber and that sawmills have to import it. As Deputy Martin Browne rightly raised earlier, the risk of disease coming in would create another problem. We have one problem with the ash dieback and we do not want another.

The gate probably was left open for objectors and that is a concern in many sectors in the country. That process has created mayhem in the system and there are many things there that could be put right. How are serial objectors allowed to happen in the first place? By not needing a licence for thinning and road building, we would get around part of that, so while that process is being washed through the system, at least some of the work could be going ahead.

The Deputy is right.

The Coillte contracts in the past did not work out for farmers. I accept that. Many farmers did not come out of that process very well. We have been talking about the two years waiting, but we are all saying the same thing here in that regard, and also on the issue of jobs. Mention was made of the forestry guy coming out in the past and that was the system. I was not responsible, however, for whoever put all this regulation and red tape in place. We have seen it across all sectors, and the more red tape that exists, the more that will slow down the process. Turning to the comments made by Deputy Leddin welcoming our statement, we need support in that regard. I ask Ms O'Sullivan to address the habitats directive.